simply adore rural simplicity.'
'With pigs in the garden?' Kate asked.
Adam chuckled, but Annabelle looked horrified. 'Heavens, no! What a ghastly thought. A few sweet little chickens, perhaps, and pretty lambs.'
'You'd look very fetching milking the cows, and cutting the hay,' Chloe added, but Annabelle gave her a disdainful look and then turned to Adam.
'We must be going, Adam, or we'll be late. Goodbye, Polly.'
'Polly, indeed!' Kate fumed. 'Who on earth is she?'
'Adam's mistress,' Chloe said carelessly, and Kate gasped in shock.
'His mistress? And they ride out together, openly?'
'Well, she's very good ton, and her husband is very wealthy, and from an old family. She's of good family herself, and they, she and Adam, are some sort of cousins.'
'But - does everybody know?' Kate demanded.
'I suppose so. It was Martin who told me. I believe they once wanted to marry, but something went wrong and she married Mr Wilson. And he's not so very much older than she is, though he's a staid, solemn kind of man. She can't hope to be a widow for years yet, so she's not much hope of ever marrying Adam.'
Kate was thoughtful on the way home. Perhaps this explained Adam's reluctance to marry. Was he hoping that Annabelle's husband would die and release her? What a dreadful thought! Yet Chloe had hinted at it. Was this the way fashionable people behaved? If so, Kate thought angrily, she'd as soon return to her cottage and forget London. Then she reminded herself that she needed to know these things for her novels, so she had better remember as much as she could.
She soon forgot her desire for home during the next few days. Every day she either walked or rode with Chloe, and soon progressed to a more spirited steed. She met many young men, and received so many compliments and admiring glances that she began to believe her friend was right when she insisted that Kate was pretty.
The first to pay her lavish compliments had rather surprised her. They had met one day out walking, and Darcy Limmering knew Chloe because he was a friend of Martin, her brother. He was tall and slender, with dark brown eyes, thick brown hair worn in careful disarray, long artistic hands and a narrow, intense looking face. Kate immediately suspected that he was an artist or a poet.
When Chloe introduced Kate he kept her hand clasped in his.
'Miss Byford, what a privilege and a delight it is to meet you,' he murmured, and the admiration he clearly felt was plain in his eyes.
Indeed Kate, with her slim form and ethereal fairness, did look amazingly pretty in one of her new walking gowns, pale cream and trimmed with dusky pink ruffles. For the first time she was wearing a garment cut and sewn for her by a fashionable modiste. Although she was unaware of it she held herself straighter and moved more gracefully in a subconscious effort to do justice to it.
She was also blissfully unaware that already her charming countenance, with the deep blue eyes, perfect complexion, entrancing lips and lively expression, framed by feathery curls recently shaped by an expert, had caused more than one masculine heart to miss a beat when she was seen walking or driving in the Park.
Unused to such openly expressed admiration as that of Mr Limmering, she blushed and cast down her eyes. She was able to recover her countenance and was grateful when the young man dropped her hand and turned back to Chloe with a request to know how her parents did.
Then Mr Limmering turned back to Kate. 'If you are the Earl of Malvern's granddaughter, Miss Byford, we are connected by marriage.'
'Yes, I am. But how can we be connected?'
'My sister Amelia is married to your cousin William. I believe he inherited the title from your paternal grandfather after your father died.'
'Cousin William? Is he in Town?' Kate demanded, all shyness gone.
Despite his lack of interest in her previously, she still felt that her father's cousin might be willing to help her, and once the Earl was gone she
'With pigs in the garden?' Kate asked.
Adam chuckled, but Annabelle looked horrified. 'Heavens, no! What a ghastly thought. A few sweet little chickens, perhaps, and pretty lambs.'
'You'd look very fetching milking the cows, and cutting the hay,' Chloe added, but Annabelle gave her a disdainful look and then turned to Adam.
'We must be going, Adam, or we'll be late. Goodbye, Polly.'
'Polly, indeed!' Kate fumed. 'Who on earth is she?'
'Adam's mistress,' Chloe said carelessly, and Kate gasped in shock.
'His mistress? And they ride out together, openly?'
'Well, she's very good ton, and her husband is very wealthy, and from an old family. She's of good family herself, and they, she and Adam, are some sort of cousins.'
'But - does everybody know?' Kate demanded.
'I suppose so. It was Martin who told me. I believe they once wanted to marry, but something went wrong and she married Mr Wilson. And he's not so very much older than she is, though he's a staid, solemn kind of man. She can't hope to be a widow for years yet, so she's not much hope of ever marrying Adam.'
Kate was thoughtful on the way home. Perhaps this explained Adam's reluctance to marry. Was he hoping that Annabelle's husband would die and release her? What a dreadful thought! Yet Chloe had hinted at it. Was this the way fashionable people behaved? If so, Kate thought angrily, she'd as soon return to her cottage and forget London. Then she reminded herself that she needed to know these things for her novels, so she had better remember as much as she could.
She soon forgot her desire for home during the next few days. Every day she either walked or rode with Chloe, and soon progressed to a more spirited steed. She met many young men, and received so many compliments and admiring glances that she began to believe her friend was right when she insisted that Kate was pretty.
The first to pay her lavish compliments had rather surprised her. They had met one day out walking, and Darcy Limmering knew Chloe because he was a friend of Martin, her brother. He was tall and slender, with dark brown eyes, thick brown hair worn in careful disarray, long artistic hands and a narrow, intense looking face. Kate immediately suspected that he was an artist or a poet.
When Chloe introduced Kate he kept her hand clasped in his.
'Miss Byford, what a privilege and a delight it is to meet you,' he murmured, and the admiration he clearly felt was plain in his eyes.
Indeed Kate, with her slim form and ethereal fairness, did look amazingly pretty in one of her new walking gowns, pale cream and trimmed with dusky pink ruffles. For the first time she was wearing a garment cut and sewn for her by a fashionable modiste. Although she was unaware of it she held herself straighter and moved more gracefully in a subconscious effort to do justice to it.
She was also blissfully unaware that already her charming countenance, with the deep blue eyes, perfect complexion, entrancing lips and lively expression, framed by feathery curls recently shaped by an expert, had caused more than one masculine heart to miss a beat when she was seen walking or driving in the Park.
Unused to such openly expressed admiration as that of Mr Limmering, she blushed and cast down her eyes. She was able to recover her countenance and was grateful when the young man dropped her hand and turned back to Chloe with a request to know how her parents did.
Then Mr Limmering turned back to Kate. 'If you are the Earl of Malvern's granddaughter, Miss Byford, we are connected by marriage.'
'Yes, I am. But how can we be connected?'
'My sister Amelia is married to your cousin William. I believe he inherited the title from your paternal grandfather after your father died.'
'Cousin William? Is he in Town?' Kate demanded, all shyness gone.
Despite his lack of interest in her previously, she still felt that her father's cousin might be willing to help her, and once the Earl was gone she
Similar Books
